Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Personnel Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
JFAC accepts Change in Employee Compensation report; committee recommends targeted pay adjustments
Summary
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee accepted the Change in Employee Compensation (CEC) committee's report by unanimous consent. The CEC recommended program-level salary schedule shifts and targeted increases for troopers, IT, nursing and health-care positions, and proposed a per-FTP supplement; benefits design would remain unchanged.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee accepted the Change in Employee Compensation (CEC) committee report by unanimous consent, moving the committee's recommendations into JFAC's budget process for further consideration.
CEC co-chair Senator Dan Foreman presented the committee's recommendations, which included shifting the primary compensation schedule upward by an average of 3.2% (with pay-grade D minimum to remain $7.25 per hour), specialized schedule increases (3.2% for public safety; 3.0% for IT and engineering; 3.5% for nursing and health care), and a proposed funding approach to provide a $1.55-per-hour increase per full-time position (FTP) with flexibility for agency heads and institution presidents to distribute those funds. The CEC also recommended funding targeted salary increases for Idaho State Police troopers (pay grade L) up to, but not exceeding, 8% to address recruitment and retention concerns. For IT and engineering schedules the committee recommended a 4.5% increase; for nursing and health-care positions the recommendation was $1.55 per hour per FTP or 3%, whichever is greater. The committee recommended maintaining the current employee benefits package with no significant plan-design changes and increasing the appropriation level per FTP from $13,000 to $13,960 for FY2026.
Why it matters: CEC recommendations are the basis for funding decisions that affect state operations and the cost of personnel across multiple agencies. Senator Foreman said the trooper pay recommendations respond to "a serious public safety emergency" where trooper staffing in some districts was described as critically low. The CEC also noted recruitment and retention pressures and vacancy rates affecting state agencies.
Formal action: Co-chair Horman asked unanimous consent to accept the CEC report; Senator Woodward seconded; there were no objections and the report was accepted.
Context and caveats: CEC staff and co-chairs stressed flexibility for agencies to target funds where needed. The committee did not vote on insurance appropriations for school districts; that was left to be addressed in the school budget process. JFAC members noted concerns about whether the recommended increases would be sufficient to close market gaps for some classifications and asked for additional detail during JFAC deliberations.
Ending: With acceptance of the CEC report, JFAC will consider the committee's pay and benefit recommendations during program maintenance and enhancement hearings next week; no appropriation was enacted by the acceptance itself.
